What Still Remains?
by DeathBladeVI
Summary: Humanity managed to reach the stars after blowing itself back to the stone age. The quarians escaped the Veil and headed deeper into unknown space, colonizing worlds there. From there, humanity and the quarian people must deal with what the galaxy throws at them, whether that is rogue Spectre or a bureaucratic Council. Oh. And they have to deal with each other, of course.


_Outside the Citadel, Washington D.C, 2296_

"What's the status on their fortifications?" asked the Director's son, Shaun. He was nearly twenty now and was armored in a suit of pre-war assault marine armor on, sans the helmet, which was tucked underneath his arm.

"Weakening sir," General Preston Garvey, the commander of the 1st Massachusetts "Minutemen" Division. "Artillery is going to keep pounding them until they find a hole. Brotherhood won't be able to hide forever."

"Good," a female voice added and the two looked to see the Director, Nora Greene. Unlike Garvey, who had a set of pre-war combat armor with the Minuteman emblem carved into the chest piece, Greene was wearing a white lab coat, the insignia of the Minutemen and the Institute crossed together. "This war has gone on long enough.

"Won't be long now," the former Paladin Danse said. His T-60 power armor groaned as the artillery guns continued to pound the walls of the Citadel. "Maxson will soon have no place to run. It's time to end this once and for all."

When Nora had united the Commonwealth behind her, the Brotherhood had retreated from Boston, leaving behind only traitors and a half-completed Liberty Prime. Scribe Hayden, now the head of the Institute's weapons programs and charged with completing Prime, was standing near them, looking over the final preparations for the push.

"God, I hate Maxson. _Here's the Institute, go burn them to hell. Go after Danse, it doesn't matter that he was amongst the most loyal Paladins serving the Brotherhood,"_ Nora said, mocking the Elder of the Eastern Brotherhood. "I can only hope that the one they call the 'Lone Wanderer' isn't a total asshat."

A Brotherhood vertibird came flying over, one of the few remaining after the _Prydwen_ had been shot down and destroyed over Adams Air Force Base. Institute Coursers armed with missile launchers soon began to track it and fired, the missiles streaking through the air and aiming straight for their target. The vertibird tried to dance around and fired off a few flares, but another wave of missiles soon finished it off.

"Well, if he's that desperate, maybe he's willing to talk," Nora said, before rolling her eyes. "Only nine years too late. Shaun's almost grown up! He was only half as tall as me when Maxson first sent me out on the mission to kill you Danse!"

" _Momm,"_ Shaun whined and Nora snickered. But then her tone went serious.

"Mission aside, Maxson has dogged us at every opportunity. New York. The Pitt. Baltimore. He killed Cait," and Nora shuddered, remembering the gladiator's broken body. "Crippled Robert. Almost murdered Nick. I'm tired of this asshole."

"M'am?" Hayden piped up. "Liberty Prime is ready."

Nora's heart hardened. _It's time._

* * *

September 2296: The Commonwealth forces invade the Capital Wasteland. Resistance is light, though Brotherhood outposts and bases are fiercely defended. Synth forces, intermixed with the Minutemen and Brotherhood traitors, along with recruits from New York, Pittsburgh and Maryland, quickly overrun most of the northern Capital Wasteland, with Megaton capitulating in less than a day.

October 2296: Liberty Prime is deployed and the Commonwealth forces storm the Citadel. Maxson is killed in the tunnels nearby, attempting to escape to the Jefferson Memorial. Soon, Brotherhood forces across the Capital surrender. The leaders are killed and the remaining Brotherhood are integrated within the Commonwealth.

* * *

 _October 23, 2296. Just outside of Flagstaff, Arizona._

"Goddamn, I hate the Legion," muttered Dante "The Courier" Bishop. He was overlooking the last remaining Legion stronghold in Arizona, Flagstaff. After throwing the NCR out of the Mojave, he had watched the two powers slug it out, with the NCR finally deploying the necessary men and material to destroy them.

"I hate them too but is it wise to have our boys do the fighting?" Craig Boone, Dante's best friend and leader of the Mojave recon troops asked. "The NCR is still marching and they can take Flagstaff, no problem."

"I want Flagstaff," Dante said firmly. Flagstaff was the site of Vault 31, one of the few control vaults and one that the Legion had been trying to get in for years. He needed that vault. "If I gotta tear down Lucius from his goddamn silver palace myself, I will."

" _Whir,"_ came the response from ED-E. Dante laughed as his old buddy started to play a patriotic tune, its name lost to the history books.

"You're not going to be on the frontlines, are you?" Boone asked. The aging sniper still had his old hunting rifle, the same one that had killed hundreds of legionnaires across three states. "Don't think Sarah would appreciate that very much."

"No, she wouldn't," Dante agreed. He had a little girl waiting back home, along with a pregnant and very angry wife. "But that's what Lily's for. And you. And the five hundred Securitrons, two thousand roboscoprions, and if everything goes to shit, Archimedes."

"Ahh, not going to mention little old me?" Veronica asked. The Elder of the Brotherhood of Steel was encased in T-51b power armor and was easily lifting a super sledge over her shoulder. "Of course not. Wouldn't want Sarah running off with me."

Dante smiled. "If Sarah was to run off with you and leave me behind, I would be honored knowing she chose to run off with you."

The smile soon disappeared as he remembered all those who had left. Cass, who was running her own caravan empire out of Primm. Arcade Gannon, who was now the head doctor of the Followers in the ruins of Denver, saving those in need. Raul, who had retired from gunfighting and was living a life of fixing things up in the Mojave.

"Don't you miss the good old days?" he suddenly asked. "When it was just us and a good old fashioned revenge story. Tracking down Benny, helping settlements in need, blowing shit up. Now I gotta run a goddamned nation, negotiating trade agreements while juggling a family and ensuring my wife doesn't kill me in my sleep."

"Grandma is here to make sure Sarah doesn't kill you in your sleep, little Dante," Lily consoled and nearly enveloped Dante in her grasp. Dante managed to slip out of it, though he did give Lily a hug.

"Uh sir?" came an unsure voice over the radio. It was the voice of Jack, who was now the Boomers chief mechanic since Loyal died a few years ago. "Bomber is on final approach. Legion defenses won't know what hit them."

"Good," Dante said. _God I love that bomber._ "Make sure the bastards don't survive."

October 2296 continued: Legion forces are finally driven out of Arizona, Their cohesion collapses as their senior leadership is destroyed in a series of quick raids, conducted jointly by the NCR Rangers and the Desert Rangers, led by Dante himself. Soon the Legion is driven out of New Mexico as well, with the stragglers finding themselves in Texas and at the mercy of the Texas chapter of the Brotherhood.

December 2296: The Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel makes contact with the Commonwealth, which controls much of the Northeast and the former American capital. The Elders, while cautious, open diplomatic channels and promise support for the Commonwealth's future push south, towards the badlands of the former states of Virginia and the Carolinas. The campaign will take a year to prepare for, as recruitment and training are needed to replace the losses of a ten year campaign. The _Prydwen_ is also put into repair at Adams Air Force Base.

June 2297: Shaun, now twenty, is almost assassinated while touring New York by a Ronto assassin. The Ronto government then launches a massive invasion of the Northeast, easily brushing aside the raider confederations of, northern New York, Ohio and Vermont. Shaun, who wields considerable influence in New York, rallies the militias and heads north to stop them.

July 2297: The Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel launch their own attack, aiming to cut off the Ronto supply lines in Detroit. The Director, now in the newly armored _Prydwen_ (which is also outfitted with a Institute relay), heads north as well, leaving the southern territories in the hands of Hancock. The New Vegas Confederation continues their drive eastward, hunting down the remnants of the Legion. The NCR looks north, knowing they can't win a war with the Confederation.

August 2297: The Ronto military is beaten back from New Hampshire by Shaun's militia forces. The 1st Massachusetts, led by Preston Garvey, soon arrive, while the _Prydwen_ makes landfall in New York. The Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel finally take Detroit, cutting the Ronto forces off in Ohio. They end up sustaining heavy losses, though most of them are tribal recruits. They start to construct a defensive line north, hoping to grind any Ronto reinforcements to dirt. An uprising against the Ronto ensures that northwestern Pennsylvania is inaccessible for Ronto caravans and reinforcements.

September 2297: The NCR send feelers towards the settlements of southern Oregon. Most join, though others balk. NCR Rangers conduct raids against those who are openly hostile, sending a message to those who were hesitant to join. The Ronto armies are slowly being beaten back, though they fiercely defend their newly won territory. Ronto launches two massive attacks against Detroit, but last minute arrival of Synth reinforcements from the _Prydwen_ allows the Midwestern Brotherhood to barely hold on.

October 2297: Shaun, with the approval of his mother, launches a daring raid with his militias. Buffalo is the main supply point for the Ronto forces. Using the relay on the _Prydwen,_ the militias and Synth infiltrators take the main fortress in Buffalo, while Preston Garvey leads a general assault to clear out the Ronto forces near the 390 highway.

November 2297: Ronto sues for peace. While massive sways of Ohio and Vermont are still in their hands, they are unable to hold onto them. The Director, not wanting to get bogged down in a protracted ground war, agrees, but only if Ronto cedes all the territory they conquered. The Ronto Governor-General reluctantly does so and his forces withdraw across the former U.S-Canada border.

December 2297: The Confederation meets the Texas chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel, where Legion remnants are held up in the city of Carbon. The Texas chapter, cut off from their main supply lines in California and the Mojave, along with Texas being hit hard by the nuclear strikes of 2077, have barely been able to surround the city and lay siege to it. The Confederation tips the balance and soon, the Texas chapter Elder agrees to integrate.

June 2298: The Orleans Republic and the Enclave remnants slug it out in the ruins of New Orleans and Louisiana. The Navigator is forced to take sides and ends up siding with the Enclave remnants. Orleans is conquered by the Enclave, who soon take possession of the Super Mutant pirates pre war dreadnought. The Director and the Courier are informed of this via trading caravans.

July 2298: The Lone Wanderer returns from his self-imposed exile, having traveled to Alaska to deal with an unknown threat there. He returns with a wife and three children. However, the home he had left behind almost twenty years ago has changed, now under the control of the Commonwealth. The Director anticipates a war, but the Lone Wanderer only wants to retire in peace. He settles down in Megaton again to raise his family.

January 2300: At the start of the new century, the Commonwealth has encompassed most of the eastern Seaboard, with only Georgia and Florida remaining out of their hands. The Director authorizes a new name. The Eastern Alliance. The New Vegas Confederation controls Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, parts of Arizona and Texas while remaining on friendly terms with the NCR. The Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel controls most of the Midwest, while the Great Khans control Idaho and Montana. The NCR controls California and Oregon, while making plans to incorporate Washington and sending an expedition to Hawaii.

June 2300: The Enclave, not wanting to repeat old mistakes, make peaceful contact with the Eastern Alliance. The Lone Wanderer almost comes out of retirement to face them, but the Director manages to convince him to not genocide the Enclave remnants. The Director and the Enclave establish peaceful relations, with plans to push into Florida together.

2305: A meeting is set up between all the major factions by Dante Bishop. As the borders are inching closer and closer, he doesn't want a war to start. The Director, Governor-General Samuel Hans, NCR President Cassandra Moore, the Courier, the Warrior and the Ronto's leadership all show up. Security is divided between the nations, while the Lone Wanderer's massive spaceship is orbiting above.

2306: The former United States is now united, though not under a single government. Each former nation has autonomy over their former territory, though the armed forces are integrated. Soon Enclave power armored troops are serving aside synths and NCR Rangers, though old grudges die hard. It will take generations before the militaries are truly integrated, but the now christened Western Alliance is the most powerful entity on Earth.

2310: Dante, looking deep into Mr. House's plan for the future, finds schematics for space travel and establishing colonies. Talking with the Lone Wanderer, he begins to make plans for the future. Dante realizes it will take decades before the ships will be ready to launch. He begins to plan for his successor's future.

2315: The Lone Wanderer disappears. His two eldest children, both members of the Coursers (now opened up to humans), begin to search for him, while his youngest child transfers to the power armor troops. Dante dispatches his own daughter to look for the Lone Wanderer. It soon takes them into the wilds of the Caribbean, where the Alliance only has a few bases. They come into conflict with the Liberation Front, the remnants of the Blue Water pirates. Here, the three manage to get themselves involved in the power struggle in Cuba.

2316: The Lone Wanderer emerges in the ruins of Havana. He had disappeared as he was hunting down the last of the enemies in Alaska. He soon reveals who they were; Chinese ghouls who had been attempting to launch missiles against the former United States. His children also learn that his mission was not just limited to Alaska. He had gone to Japan, China and Russia. NCR's long awaited Hawaii expedition commences.

2317 (1917 in Galactic Standard Time): The Morning War ends. The quarians retreat away from the Perseus Veil and start to head past the Skyllian Verge, a gateway to new territories not colonized by the Council species. The turians attempt to block them from accessing it, but the quarians rearguard stalls them long enough for the majority of the exiles to escape. The turians follow, but are unable to locate the quarians. The turians establish a blockade of the relay heading into the unknown space, forever swearing to stop whatever emerges. The remaining quarians in Council space are ostracized, with many choosing to migrate to the Terminus systems, where they are prey to batarian pirate gangs. The NCR discover vaults with GECKs, noting that the US government was planning to use Hawaii as their fallback base.

2325: The first spaceship is constructed. The Bright Followers use their expertise to start their new holy mission to reach the stars. Soon, the ghouls are in orbit and begin to repair satellites and other orbital platforms launched before the Great War.

2330: The quarians establish a colony in the Voyager cluster and mask their intentions. They begin to explore this part of the space and start to activate mass relays. As the quarians begin to expand in the new area, humanity reaches the moon for the first time in centuries. The Bright Followers discover the old remains of the lunar bases and begin to repair and rebuild them.

2335: The Lone Wanderer dies. He leaves behind his wife, three children and six grandchildren. The Director also steps down, allowing Shaun to take over the reigns, noting that Shaun is beginning to look like the Father. She's nearing eighty now and wishes for retirement, noting that she will always be around if Shaun needs advice. Despite her retirement, she will always be addressed as Director.

2340: The Courier goes to space with the ghouls. Eighty-five years old, he has transferred most of his duties to his successor, Marcus. He chose Marcus due to his knowledge and temperament and because he is respected throughout the Alliance. His granddaughter, Naomi Bishop, joins the Desert Rangers, while his grandson, Porter Williams, joins the Alliance Marines.

2345: The first official colony is terraformed on the Moon, now christened Luna. The colonial town is named Courier's Haven and currently has two thousand colonists. The Courier visits and gives a speech at the town square. Preparations are made for more colonists, while an expedition is planned for Mars in the coming years.

2348: Mars is soon terraformed by multiple GECKs, most of them found in the vaults in Hawaii. The rest of the GECKs are being used to terraform the Americas, with the Alliance expanding southwards.

2350: The quarians jump into the Arcturus Stream, but are unable to activate the relay there. Leaving a small observation station behind, they continue to explore, looking for materials. Their population is now around two hundred million, while humanity's population is near forty million. More colonists begin to arrive on Mars, with New Boston being founded by Nora's 'granddaughter,' Jane Greene.

2351: The Mars colonists find the Prothean archives. Soon the top scientists in the Western Alliance converge on the archives. What they find astonishes them. The Protheans had developed a way to travel faster than light due to use of mass effect fields. Building on this technology, the Western Alliance soon begins to develop ships that are capable of going faster than light. Military technology begins to take off as well, as mass effect powered weaponry begins to replace the ballistic weaponry.

2355: The first starship, the WAS _Liberty,_ is constructed. She is unarmed, though carries the best kinetic barriers and armor humanity has to offer. She is captained by Jason Bright, who is continuing his destiny of exploring the stars.

* * *

"So that's her?" the Courier rasped, tapping his cane against the ground. "She doesn't look like much. Though the painting of Sarah...that's gorgeous. Really captures her golden years."

"Really granddad?" Naomi Shepard _nee_ Bishop asked incredulously. Her grandfather was a lewd man, but she should be grateful. After all, if he hadn't been such a horny bastard, she wouldn't be here. "Come on, grandma still looks good."

"I haven't had sex in twenty-five years," Dante said, continuing to horrify Naomi. "You don't get to tell me who does and doesn't look good. Though, for both our sakes, don't breathe a word of this to Sarah. She'll gut us both."

They were interrupted as Jason Bright, still gleaming in green, was in their view.

"Wanderer, it is always go to see you!"

Dante almost rolled his eyes. _You help them out one time and they start worshipping you like the stars._ But then he grinned and extended his hand, which the ghoul shook. "Good to see you as well. Let's get this show on the road, shall we? I got a Super Mutant grandmother waiting for me."

* * *

2356: Bright and the _Liberty_ find the Charon Relay. The Alliance is alarmed but soon give the order to activate it. Shipbuilding is accelerated, with a special focus on warships. Colonies are established on Titan. Bright goes through the relay and emerges in the Arcturus Stream. There he finds the observation station the quarians left behind, but it has been abandoned.

2358: The first human warships are launched, tasked with defending the outer reaches of human space. Zeta warship is held back for defense of Earth, under the command of the eternal Sally and her alien workers. The warships are armed with a simple spinal gun and point defense lasers, though plans to incorporate plasma weaponry are introduced. The plan to build a dreadnought around the Archimedes weapons system is put into place.

2359: The dreadnought _Wanderer_ is under construction. The Courier visits the colony on Titan. Sarah Bishop, the Courier's wife, dies of old age. After her death, the Courier disappears without a trace. Only Naomi seems to know anything and she is tight-lipped. The Alliance launches another twelve warships, these ones being sent into the Arcturus Stream, where plans to settle another world are forming. Hancock is chosen to govern, with the aging Shaun looking for his next successor.

2365: The quarians reemerge in the Arcturus Stream, only to find a dozen warships crowded around a viable planet. The liveship _Rayya_ and her escorts linger at the edge of the system, wary of the newcomers. The destroyer _Courier Six_ under the command of Admiral Jon Grissom makes first contact.

* * *

"Out of all the things…" the aging admiral looked from the deck of the _Courier Six_. He had been born in the NCR right before the merging of the American nations. He had sailed to Hawaii, colonized Mars and was part of the crew that unlocked the Charon Relay. "Aliens. Damn. Never thought I see the day."

"Yes Man," and one of the many clones of Yes Man popped up. "Send a message to Sanctuary. We've got visitors."

* * *

 **AN: What's up everyone! It's another story from me. Hopefully this one won't get away with me, but I've got an outline, so hopefully everything will work out. I kind of got tired of the _FIRST CONTACT WAR_ stories that keep pooping up, so I created a Fallout one where the quarians meet the humans first and not everything goes to shit at first sight. Don't worry, you'll see conflict down the line, but it's gonna be slowly walked in.**

 **This also means that every other story is on hold or discontinued. My other Fallout/Mass Effect crossovers are done for now.**


End file.
